September 10, 2022

"There’s breaking protocol and then there’s giving the Queen Mother an unwanted kiss on the lips, which is something President Jimmy Carter inexplicably did..."

"... during his May 1977 visit to Buckingham Palace.... [T]he Queen Mother later described the incident, which she found mortifying. 'Nobody has done that since my husband died,' she said. 'I took a sharp step backwards – not quite far enough.'"

From "Queen Elizabeth’s Awkward Visits With U.S. Presidents, Ranked" (NY Magazine).

The Carter visit is ranked #12 out of 13 ranked visits. The only thing worse was the Jackie-and-Jack visit that we saw dramatized on "The Crown." We're told that Jackie said the queen was "pretty heavy going," and when Gore Vidal related Jackie's complaint to Princess Margaret, she said, "But that’s what she’s there for."

You might guess that Obama would come out at #1, but he's only #3. #1 is Eisenhower, and #2 was Harry Truman, in October 1951 and when Elizabeth was still a Princess (4 months later she would be queen):

44 comments:

Cappy said...

Carter lusted in his heart.

The Crack Emcee said...

Jimmy Carter helped Jim Jones kidnap a child - because Harvey Milk lied.

Our culture is held hostage by liars, assholes, and hypocrites.

Curious George said...

I'll bet Carter slipped her some tongue.

RideSpaceMountain said...

The queen mother should've closed her eyes and thought of Georgia.

n.n said...

You may feel compelled, but, who, in their right mind, would do that? All's fair in lust and abortion? Weird and weirder.

alanc709 said...

Why would I guess Obama's visit was number 1?

Temujin said...

"... during his May 1977 visit to Buckingham Palace.... [T]he Queen Mother later described the incident, which she found mortifying. 'Nobody has done that since my husband died,' she said. 'I took a sharp step backwards – not quite far enough.'"

Interestingly, it's the same reaction the American public had after getting to meet Jimmy Carter.

Curious George said...

Having read the article, it's pretty clear that there is no real criteria for the ranking.

hombre said...

Who but an Obamaphile would rank him number one at anything positive?

Curious George said...

"Why would I guess Obama's visit was number 1?"

Nope, Reagan.

Buckwheathikes said...

The Queen mum was only kissed. Twas we who Jimmy Carter fucked.

john said...

If the queen mother said she was mortified she obviously meant it as a joke. She was not brittle. She probably got two decades of dinner amusement in its retelling.

Besides, she already knew Carter was "borderlands" stock anyway.

Kate said...

I won't click through but I am curious to see where they ranked Reagan. In all the memorial footage going on now, I saw Reagan and the Queen riding horseback together when she invited him to Balmoral to see her stable. That seemed pretty special.

Wilbur said...

What does "pretty heavy going" mean? That's a new one for me.

cassandra lite said...

"But that's what she's there for."

Chef's kiss.

Tina Trent said...

After college, Obama travelled the world on his grandmother's dime with his Columbia University, coke snorting Pakistani trust fund pals whose daddies owned plantations (and, basically, slaves) but got off on considering themselves victims of the Empire. Of course, he leaves this stuff out of his official bios, because he wasn't helping the poor: he was literally being waited on hand and foot by indentured servants in a slave state. He later partnered with the usual anti-colonialist leftist rabble in Chicago and beyond that was deeply invested in hating the Queen and literally supported terrorists who attacked Britain. It isn't likely the Queen would have known that at the time, because an army of journalists carefully concealed both his elitism and radicalism. She wouldn't have behaved any differently if she did know, of course.

And yet, Jimmy Carter still managed to out-schmuck him.

The Drill SGT said...

The version I read had Reagan as y far the best at #1

Achilles said...

You might guess that Obama would come out at #1, but he's only #3.


Well, you seem to have some weird attachment to publications out of New York.

Just knowing who wrote it most would guess Obama would be hidden behind some republican.

cassandra lite said...

This case is a lot more like Crystal Mangum than it is Jussie Smollett. JS was trying to boost his career through the publicity attendant to being victimized, believing his two co-conspirators would remain anonymous--as opposed to this accuser, who made someone else the victim of this fantasy, and by extension a whole school.

The appropriate allusion is to Crystal Mangum, who was immediately believed by Duke. Seems the school learned nothing about the need to trust but verify before going all in on social justice. Now there's no way to walk this back. Facts have become legend, and that's what they're going to stick with.

madAsHell said...

Besides a lot of aw-shucks-cornball, what did Truman do wrong?

Amichel said...

Reagan-1, Eisenhower-2, Truman-3, Obama-4

Mike said...

Jimmuh the Jeorgia Jerk.

Wince said...

"For no matter how silly the idea of having a queen might be to us, as Americans we must be gracious and considerate hosts."

The Crack Emcee said...

Achilles said...

"Just knowing who wrote it most would guess Obama would be hidden behind some republican."

We live in an era of acceptable lies.

Kate said...

Oh, well, there you go. It was as special as it looked.

James K said...

What about Obama's gift of a flash drive of his collected speeches? That should have pushed him to last place.

William said...

Audrey Hepburn was the very embodiment of all that a Princess should be, but she only had to do it for that one movie and had the proper lighting, hairdo people, and clothing designers to help. Princess Elizabeth had only slightly above average looks, had to wear somewhat dowdy clothes, had to affect interest and amusement in men somewhat less photogenic than Gregory Peck, and, moreover, had to stay in character every waking moment of her life. I give Elizabeth higher marks as a Princess than even Audrey Hepburn.

rcocean said...

I like Gore Vidal, but he was a liar, who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. THe Trump visit was great, because Trump (due to his Scottish mother) was a Big fan of the Queen. Reagan had class and loved horses, so he got along fine too.

Ike, of course, had spent years dealing with British officers and Churchill, and no problem getting along with Queen Liz.

Jimmy Carter was an oddball in many ways. I think kissing the queen was part of his Fake Populist shtick. IRC, he walked to his inaugeration and carried his own laundry, or some such nonsense. His policies weren't populist in the least.

William said...

Eisenhower was the most popular of all the wartime generals among the English people. They liked him better than their own generals. I've never read any book that detailed his relationship with the monarchy, but it would be out of character for Elizabeth not to have looked up to and admired him.

MalaiseLongue said...

Obama = #4, even though Michelle committed the gaffe of hugging the queen? And even though Obama Himself thought the ideal gift to the queen would be a boxed set of His own recorded speeches?

n.n said...

#MeToo but with corroborating forensic and human witnesses.

rcocean said...

Grace Kelly should have been Queen.

We need to rewrite the script!

Rollo said...

To be American is to be ambivalent about England and its monarchy. We were anti-imperialist, but we ended up an empire.

The queen really was the "institutional memory" that Washington politicians and journalists claim to be. Maybe the difference is that she didn't have to pay fealty to any ideology.

Jim at said...

I seem to remember Obama running his mouth - attempting to make some sort of toast - while 'God Save the Queen' was being played.

That alone should put it at 13.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"I like Gore Vidal, but he was a liar, who never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Well yeah...fags do that.

"Oh, Liz, what do we care; they're just a couple of fags! They're disgusting." - Lee Radziwill to Liz Smith re Truman Capote and Gore Vidal

gilbar said...

Was there Ever a scurvier President, than Jimmy Carter??
I mean, other than
Jo Biden? or Barry O'Bama? or BJ Clinton? or LBJ? or Woody Wilson?

Ralph L said...

You'd think Jackie and Liz could have talked about horses.

Michael K said...

I was in England in 1977 and was embarrassed to have Jimmy Carter as president.

Ralph L said...

What does "pretty heavy going" mean? That's a new one for me.

Not easy to converse with is the normal meaning.

boatbuilder said...

I have often thought that the US might benefit from having some sort of Constitutionally enshrined Public "First Family" which could satisfy the apparent need of much of the populaceneed for figureheads, while the less photogenic actors on the political stage engage in the process of government. Sort of like Britain, except with an actual Constitution and Bill of Rights so the political class doesn't completely screw us all.

Mikey NTH said...

Heavy going as I understood it meant a tough trip or hard work. Something that is onerous.

Mikey NTH said...

As SACEUR Eisenhower may have met her before any official visit with him as president.

MadTownGuy said...

Curious George said...

"I'll bet Carter slipped her some tongue."

Say what you will about Jimmy Carter, but he's no Bill Clinton, never mind Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

rcocean said...

"Well yeah...fags do that."

Sad that you hate Gays.